


Twisted Fortune

by Holtzexmachina



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Holtzbert - Freeform, Slow Build Erin Gilbert/Jillian Holtzmann, This started off as a one shot, but they'll get there, ghostbusters - Freeform, not actually sure where this is going, oh well, powers, time to bust some ghost ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-06 06:25:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16826971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holtzexmachina/pseuds/Holtzexmachina
Summary: Holtz has a power.And when she sees something she can't forget, her power could save a life... or destroy it completely.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I have seen a few fics lately were people have powers and thought I would join the bandwagon. So here's my take, hope it's a banger!

A flash.

A scream.

Then silence.

Holtzmann sat up quickly, breathless, beads of sweat on her brow. That one had made no sense, other than someone had got hurt. Badly. Maybe it was a bust they were going to? She turned and looked at her clock.

"Half three in the morning? Fuck." Holtzmann groaned.

She rose from her bed, heart still pounding from the horrors that scarred her mind, and made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a small bottle from the cupboard; Nyquil was all that helped her sleep these days. The first dream had happened when she was 10 years old, but it took her years to figure out the truth; her dreams were visions of the future.

And they had always come true.

Holtzmann walked exhausted back to her bed, letting the reality of the situation sink in. Her dreams had never been wrong, which led her to ask herself a question:

Who was screaming?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtz shoves a weight off her shoulders.

Holtz shuffled into the firehouse with dark circles under her eyes, clutching a coffee in each hand.

"Hey Holtzy, have a rough night?" Patty cackled.

The blonde looked Patty dead in the eyes. "You have no idea."

Seeing she had pushed a button, Patty's face fell. "Hey, come here." She opened her arms, and Holtz broke. She ran crying and hugged her friend.

"Hey, hey, Holtz, baby, what's going on?" Patty rubbed the blonde's shaking back, leading her over to her research corner.

They sat down on the beanbags Patty had scattered around, and Holtz sat, trying to control her sobs. Abby and Erin had just walked in from their Chinese run, and immediately dropped their bags and ran over. Patty signalled them to stay quiet.

After a couple of minutes, Holtz lifted her head and spoke.

"I need to tell you guys something. You know those stupid nightmares I have?" She forced a laugh. "Well they aren't nightmares."

Erin sat on the other side of her, rubbing her back. "What do you mean?" She said gently.

"They're true. My nightmares are visions. Visions about the future. They never make total sense, and I can't always tell how far off they are, but no matter what, they always come true."

She looked around, expecting wide eyes and stifled laughs, but all she was met with was curiosity and concern.

"So, did you have one of these dreams last night?" Erin queried. 

"Yup." Holtz proceeded to describe the dream, waking up in a darkened room, then the flash of green light, and someone screaming. "There was something else, too. I didn't remember it at first. Just as I woke up, I saw a face."

"Whose face?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure. It looked, familiar somehow. Like I'd seen it in a photograph somewhere."

"What did they look like?"

"It was a man, about 50 years old, greasy grey hair falling over his face, and a thick moustache. He had a scar over his right eye, I think."

Suddenly Erin gasped. "Uncle Jeffrey..."

"What?" Patty asked.

"That sounds exactly like how Grandma described Uncle Jeffrey... he was her brother, murdered like five people in drunken rages and got the chair."

Patty's eyes widened. "Wait, do you mean Jeffrey Collier? The insane guy who got put in jail? He was your uncle?"

"Yeah. It was before I was born, but she used to tell us about it when we misbehaved, said we would end up like evil Uncle Jeffrey."

"That's where I saw it! Patty, remember you showed me a book about America's killers?" Her face fell. She looked across at Erin. "Well, somehow, your uncle's ghost is turning up in my nightmares. And that is in no way a great sign. It could be in a week or a year, but I'm gonna meet him." Holtz put her head in her hands. That face was seared into her memory.

She still didn't know who screamed.

The four ghostbusters sat in silence, trying to process the conversation.

Suddenly Holtz spoke. "You guys, thanks for being so supportive. I'm glad I told you. It's nice to finally be able to talk to people about this stuff."

"That's what friends are for, Holtz."

Friends. Real friends.

As they joined in a group hug, Holtz realised whatever happened tomorrow or any day, she had real friends to support her all the way.

She was ready for whatever came next.

But that night she had a vision nothing could have prepared her for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh... cliffhanger... if you know where this is going, please tell me because I only have a slight idea XD 
> 
> Sorry if the next chapter takes a while, I am going to the UN conference in Poland tomorrow for a week! Will try to update from the hotel room though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry this update has been so long coming, I have been up to my neck in work and campaigning stuff! I am putting two chapters up today to make up for it. Enjoy!

Holtz’s eyes flew open, and she stood in a panic for a moment as she adjusted to her surroundings. As she looked around, she saw she was in a sewer, lit by floodlights along the wall. In front of her she could see three beams from headtorches, worn by her fellow ghostbusters. She couldn’t remember anything, which confused her, but they were on a bust, so she entered her bust headspace, alert and ready for attack.

Up ahead, Abby hissed for them to stop.

“Guys, quiet. I can hear him!” They all stood stock still, and Holtz could now hear a sound up ahead, heavy breathing with a wheeze behind it, from around the corner. Slowly, they inched forward.

As they rounded the corner, there was a flash of blinding light, and suddenly everything around Holtz was different. She was in a large opening in the sewer, and a battle was raging all around her. Proton streams bounced off the walls, sending sparks flying over her head. Classic bust mode, she thought.

But something was off. Holtz heard a voice she thought she didn’t recognise, but quickly it clicked as a flash of blonde hair ran to her right. She turned, and found herself looking at…

Herself.

She didn’t have time to figure that out, however, as she saw her duplicate’s eyes widen, and as she turned her head to see what she was looking at, she heard it again.

The scream.

The same one from her dream the other night.

Only now she saw who was letting it out. She saw Erin, flying through the air, her eyes wide and afraid. Abby and Patty stopped fighting, and everyone was frozen to the spot. All Holtz could do was stand there, tears streaming down her shocked face, watching duplicate Holtz ran over, screaming Erin’s name, as the redhead collided with the wall and dropped like a stone.


	4. Chapter 4

She sat up in bed, clawing at the sheets, whimpering Erin’s name over and over, until she came to herself.

“It was a dream. Oh, fucking hell, it was a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.” Holtz got up, whispering the same three words over and over in a daze and she shuffled in her duvet to the living room.

Holtz stopped. Her breath hitched. It was Erin. All this time.

She felt so stupid. How did it taking seeing Erin die to realise she was in love with her?

She had always thought she was cute, ever since she walked into the lab at the University all flustered. Now she realised why her stomach flipped whenever she laughed, why she was so flirty to her, desperate for a response, for some sort of sign. Now it all made sense.

From that moment, Holtz made herself a promise, to protect Erin with her life, and do whatever it took so save her from the fate she saw in her dream.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

She turned up at the firehouse, once again dark circles appearing under her eyes.

“Holtz, you look like shit. Did you have another vision last night?” Abby walked over, holding a cup of coffee which she immediately gave to Holtz, who gave her a grateful smile.

“Yeah, I did. But, it was weird.” By now, Erin and Patty had heard the conversation and had come out of the kitchen.

“Weird how, Holtz?” Erin said gently.

Erin.

It was so strange, like she had changed overnight, which, in a way, she had. She looked so beautiful clutching her lemon tea, her brow furrowed and her nose crinkled the way she did when she was worried or concerned.

Erin, the love of her life, who she had sworn to protect. A promise made blearily in the early hours of the morning, now became entrenched in Holtz’s heart. Seeing her now just made her more motivated to protect her. Even if she never loved her back, Holtz would care for her for the rest of her life.

While her mind whirred on with endearing thoughts, Holtz maintained a calm exterior, grateful to tell her friends about last night, even just to distract her mind from Erin.

“It was weird in that it was way more detailed. I saw everything, where we were, I could smell it. We were in a sewer. No idea where. But we were ghost hunting. We were about to face it, when I blacked out, and woke up standing in the middle of a battle with the ghost. Then…” her voice faltered, remembering all too well what happened next. But she couldn’t say it, not to Erin. “Then it all went black, but I heard the same scream.” She lied.

“Who were we fighting? This Jeffrey dude?” Patty asked.

“Yeah, it was Jeffrey Collier. But he was HUGE. Like, as tall as the room we were in.” She threw her arms wide, nearly hitting Patty in the face.

“Hey, watch out, Holtzy!”

“Sorry, Pattycakes. But seriously, buck up guys. This is a hard one.” She tried to give her signature grin, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Erin saw her face falter, and thought there was more, something she wasn’t telling them. But she didn’t ask. Clearly it was something that upset Holtz a lot. Maybe she’d ask her later.

“Well, Patty and I did some research on this Jeffrey guy.” Abby spoke up after a few moments.

Patty became visibly excited, as she always did when she was talking about New York history. “Yeah, you guys, this dude was a baaaad nickel. Like, he didn’t just kill those five guys, he kidnapped them, chopped body parts and mailed them to the family and all that jazz.”

Erin and Holtz winced.

“Well,” Abby gave Patty a warning glare. “Five of them died before they were found. They managed to save one guy, and caught Jeffrey, who was sentenced to death row. He got the chair a few months later.”

“Where did they put him in jail?” Erin asked.

“Well, we narrowed it down to two, Auburn Correctional Facility and Sing Sing. Erin, did your grandma mention if he was close to New York? Auburn is across State, but Sing Sing’s only 30 miles north.”

“No… no I don’t think so. Have you asked at the library for records?”

“We put in a Freedom of Information request, but it might take a couple days.”

Holtz spoke up. “Erin, you were mentioning the other day you had an idea for improving the waste heat coming off the proton packs and the streams? It’s just in my dream they were nowhere near as hot, and I wanna get started on that. The future in my dreams can be changed, so I want to get it done. Like, ASAP.”

“Oh, yeah. I have some paperwork on it, I left it in your lab. Come up, I’ll show you, it’s not a big thing or anything, it shouldn’t take too long.”

Erin was wearing her skinny jeans and a polo neck black top, as part of her trying to drop the prim and proper thing. And oh boy was it working. Holtz could hardly keep her eyes off Erin’s swaying hips as they walked up to the third floor. Was it her imagination or were they swaying a little too much to be natural?

Holtz forced herself to concentrate. Finishing any improvements to the packs could be essential in saving Erin’s life.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Erin turned to give her a smile, and Holtz felt an odd sensation, like a tugging in her gut. She was whisked back twenty years, when her visions were fairly new. She had seen a beautiful woman, with red hair and a black jumper, turning and smiling at her. She smiled back at Erin now, remembering how beautiful she had thought the woman was. Oh Jill, she thought. You have no idea.

They walked into the lab, and instead of going to her desk, Erin turned to face Holtz.

“Why are you lying to us? What didn’t you say?”

Holtz let out a laugh that sounded almost as nervous as she felt. “What do you mean?”

“You were about to carry on, when you told us the dream, but you stopped. Why? What happened? I know you’re hiding something, and I know it scares you. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But just know I’m here for you Holtz, I care about you, you can tell me.”

“Erin, I… I just can’t. I’m sorry. I’m doing everything I can to make sure you never have to know what I saw last night.” She took a deep, shuddery breath, remembering the fear in Erin’s eyes, as tears welled up in her own.

“Look, where are those papers. I need to be alone for a while. Is that okay?”

“Of course, just as long as you tell me you’ll be okay up here.” She handed Holtz her equations. “If you need anything, anything at all, you just tell me, okay?”

Erin gave the engineer a gentle hug, and Holtz could smell her coconut shampoo. She sighed into the other woman, before letting go, and watching her walk away.

“I’ll be okay when you are.” She whispered to herself.

Holtz had sat tinkering with the packs for what seemed like hours, but when she looked at the clock it was only half past one.

She stared at her screwdriver, twiddling it in her hand, but her mind was far from heat exchanges and faraday cages. All she could think about was Erin. She had formulated several plans to save her. She had thought about putting herself at the front instead of Abby, but she couldn’t be sure that would work. From experience, no matter how much she changed her actions, the things in her dreams still happened somehow. But she knew she had to try something drastic, even if it took everything she had.

She sat for a while, her mind going over all the options. Suddenly, she had a thought, and after digging around the piles of paper on her workbench, pulled one stapled document out from the mess, looking at it like it held the answers to the universe.

This was it.

She could save Erin.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby, Patty and Erin were working at their desks on the ground floor. Every now and then a crash or boom would come from above them, but none of them looked up. They knew the scariest sign from Holtz was no noise at all.

Every couple of hours one of them would take her a coffee and some food; they knew she often forgot to eat when she was working hard. But today she insisted they leave her alone. She couldn’t be disturbed, or it might fail.

They all wondered what “it” was.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The freedom of information request came back from the library after two days; Jeffrey Collier had been imprisoned in Sing Sing, 30 miles north of New York City.

Abby contacted the facility via the Mayor’s Office, and discovered there had been reports of suspicious activity, attacks on staff members and destruction of property, but the guards had assumed it was the inmates.

“That’s our ghost alright.” Abby exclaimed excitedly to the others.

“Sounds pretty ghosty to me.” Patty replied.

“Holtz, did you finish what you were working on? Is it… safe..?” Erin asked, glancing at the several burns on Holtz’s exposed forearms.

“Oh yeah, that’s done. Not telling you guys, though, it’s a… precaution. Might not even need it.” She gave a tight-lipped smile, and Erin gave her a concerned glance. You ok? She seemed to say. Holtz gave back her most confident but subtle nod, the two of them missing the look Abby slipped Patty.

“So, you guys,” Abby broke the silence. “How are we gonna break into a max security prison, to find a ghost they don’t even believe exists? Any bright ideas?”

“Well, Holtz mentioned we were in a sewer, how about that way?”

Patty wrinkled her nose. “Girl there is no way in hell-“

“No, no, she’s right. We were geared up, in the sewers.” Holtz contributed. “It was…. Sewerper…”

“Holtzy no.” Patty deadpanned.

Holtz pouted dramatically, earning a snort from Erin. God, she love it when she snorted. Adorable.

“It makes sense, they don’t put sensors down there, only in the entrances and exits like the toilets.” Abby mused.

“So, if we got into the sewers and engaged the ghost there… we wouldn’t need to actually go in and we wouldn’t trip any sensors!” Holtz exclaimed, using jazz hands for emphasis.

Abby spoke up again. “Even if we’re discovered, we’ll film the whole thing as evidence, with the go pros on our headtorches. Get the mayor to sort it out.”

“Alright, guys, let’s suit up. We’ve got a ghost to catch!” Erin whooped excitedly.

“Erin, how is this exciting. This guy is a relative, he might recognise you, you might be in danger… or something.” Holtz quickly added. She had almost told them! She would need to be more careful. She patted the pocket of her overalls, making sure her ‘precaution’ was still there.

Erin gave another concerned glance. She knew Holtz was upset. She couldn’t bear to see her sad. “Well, you never know, he might slime me. Oh wait, that happens all the time anyway!” She joked, making a goofy face which made Holtz laugh. Satisfied she had cheered her up, even if only slightly, Erin ran off to get her overalls.

Two hours and some reckless driving by Holtz later, they were two miles from the prison fences. Ahead of them lay several roads and houses, underneath which ran some of the oldest sewers in the State, and one of few which were still big enough for people to walk through.

They found a sewer grate, and checking the coast was clear, climbed down the ladder into darkness.

Holtz felt her heart rate quicken as they descended towards the sewer. Her brain was constantly trying to remember every detail, looking for things she could change to save Erin’s life. But she kept coming back to the look in Erin’s eyes, the fear, and she had to force herself not to cry.

When they dropped from the end of the manhole, they landed in a knee high river of water.

“Ugh, gross! This was NOT what I signed up for, you guys.” Patty exclaimed.

They had tied rope between them for the climb down, which they pulled off and put in their pockets for the climb back up. Holtz felt a hand on her shoulder from behind, and realised she had changed something without meaning to; she was standing in front of Erin, not at the back of the group. She felt a sense of slight relief, and turned to give Erin the first genuine smile she had in over a week. However, she forgot about her headtorch, and what could have been a romantic breakthrough turned into her having to guide Erin until she could see again.

Abby led the group through the sewers, using a terrain map to guide them to the prison. Up ahead they saw a pipe exit around a corner, with a sign next to it which read “Sing Sing Drainage waste”. Abby threw a device around the corner, a sort of ghost bait, which gave off the same signal as the vortex from Time Square, that Holtz had designed after seeing the readings from Erin and Abby’s proton packs from inside the vortex.

Suddenly Holtz felt that tugging in her gut. She saw the torch beams ahead of her, two now, not three, and heard Abby whisper for them to stop. This was it, she thought, this was from her vision.

They passed the moment where she blacked out in her dream, but she could still see.

“Thank fuck.” She whispered.

“What?” Erin hissed back.

“In my dream I blacked out a few seconds ago. I’m glad I didn’t now.”

“Oh. Me too.” They smiled at each other, and Erin squeezed Holtz’s shoulder. Holtz noticed her rub her thumb up and down, holding her gaze. She couldn’t get distracted, not now. But afterwards, maybe…

Abby interrupted the moment, hissing “Right, guys, let’s go. NOW!”

Upon the shout, the four women charged around the corner into the space where the battle would rage.

Holtz had never been more scared in her life.


	6. Chapter 6

When Holtz and Erin came running around the corner, Abby and Patty were already firing at Jeffrey Collier. Holtz was confused, as he seemed no taller than Patty, when in her dream he had been at least ten feet tall. But she soon realised that was because this time, Erin was behind her.

And Erin was the one he wanted.

He locked on to her, and suddenly was surrounded by a red glow, his eyes glowing crimson with rage.

“YOU!” He bellowed at her. “YOU LOVE THE TRAITOR!”

“Oh hello there!” She replied humorously, reminding Holtz slightly of James Bond. The three women stopped firing, and turned to her.

“Hello there? Really Erin? Wow.” Abby scoffed.

“Erin, honey, come on. Not appropriate.” Patty deadpanned.

Erin pulled a face. “Sorry, just trying to ease the tension. LOOK OUT!”

Abby and Patty screamed as they turned to find the ghost bearing down on them at breakneck speed.

The ghost was concentrating his efforts on Erin. As he shouted, his form grew, as though his own rage was feeding him. “SHE BETRAYED ME! SHE BETRAYED ME AND YOU TREASURED HER!” He charged towards her, but Holtz cut across between them, yelling Erin back. She pressed her proton pack and her pistols sprang out of the sides. She charged Collier head on, giving him a proton burst straight to the face.

Erin watched in awe, feeling her mouth getting suddenly dry, until beckoned by a hissing Abby, snapped back to reality and ran behind a pump where the researcher was reloading her proton rifle.

“Erin, what does he mean she betrayed him? Who is he on about?”

Erin thought for a second, before her jaw dropped. “Oh shit!” She exclaimed. “I left out that my grandma turned him in. She went round to his house and found the guys in the basement while he was out. Called the police on him.”

“So what, he wants revenge on you because you’re her grandchild?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Cool. Let’s go!” The two of them charged back out at shouts from Patty and Holtz, who were having trouble trying to contain the ghost of Jeffrey Collier. Abby yelled “FOR ERIN’S GRANDMAAAAA!” Which made Patty and Holtz turn and stare.

As Abby and Erin ran out, the place became aglow with proton streams, striking sparks off the walls, and Holtz realised this was where her vision carried on from. Yet, something was different. She couldn’t quite place what it was, but there was no time to think about it.

Her eyes widened, as she saw Erin charge the ghost, saw his arm fly behind him, knocking her flying into the air at high speed.

As she ran towards Erin, she realised what was different. She was standing much closer to Erin than she was in the dream. As Erin was knocked flying, she shouted at the others. “You guys handle the ghost! I got this!”

In a flash, she jumped in the air underneath Erin, and threw the small black cube she had held in her pocket up as hard as she could. She watched, breath held, as Erin flew towards the wall, just like in her dream. At the very last moment, Holtz pressed a button on a small remote, and a giant purple wave shot out of the now falling black cube, and wrapped itself around Erin. It followed her as she fell to the ground, where she lay surrounded by the purple glowing bubble of energy.

Meanwhile, Abby and Patty fought Collier with all they had. They fired streams around him, forcing him towards the corner. Abby shot one final burst at the ghost, and in swerving to avoid it he bounced back off the wall straight into Patty, who was waiting with her ghost chipper. The slimy remains of Jeffrey Collier spewed out of the back, and Abby and Patty stood, smiling and breathless, before turning to face Holtz and Erin.

Holtz was standing beside the bubble, running her hands carefully around the edge, making sure not to touch it. “It’s okay, Erin, I got you. I’ve always got you. Always.” Abby and Patty stood either side of her, watching the purple ball as Erin reached the ground. Holtz motioned them all to move away.

“Erin’ll be fine, we’re just not gonna want to be within a couple yards of the outside of this bubble when she pops.” Abby and Patty exchanged a worried glance and hastily took a few steps back.

When Holtz had moved back to join Abby and Patty, she pressed the button again. Although what happened was not something anyone would have described as a “pop”.

The purple bubble glowed brighter and brighter, until it dissipated completely with a bang, and there was a sudden rush of air, causing the three to stumble backwards, Abby falling flat on her back with a grunt.

“A couple of yards, Holtz? More like a couple miles! Jesus…” Abby complained as Patty helped her up.

But Holtz wasn’t listening. She saw Erin curled in a ball, motionless, and immediately ran over, cursing herself.

“Erin! Erin? Come on, Er, please.” She took the redhead in her arms, turning her so she lay on her back in the blonde’s lap, held in a tight embrace. She gently caressed her face, and slowly began to realise Erin wasn’t waking up.

Abby and Patty ran over, looking concerned.

“Is she okay? What…” Abby stopped when she saw the sight. Holtz was rocking a limp Erin back and forth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I couldn’t do it… I couldn’t save her… I did everything I could and it still wasn’t enough…” Holtz whimpered.

“What do you mean? Holtz, do you mean you knew?” Abby crouched next to her. Holtz couldn’t look her in the eye. She shivered as a cold breeze rippled through the room. She looked off into the distance, eyes unfocused.

“I saw her die, Abby. In my dream. I saw her fly across the room into that wall and collapse. Dead.”

“Oh my… Holtz, I…” Patty crouched next to Abby and placed a hand on Holtz’s shoulder.

“I thought I could save her. I made a proton shield so I could catch her if anything happened, but I…” she began to sob. “I should have… tested it more…. I should have….” She broke down, cradling Erin ever tighter. “Abby, call 911… or something… she’s still breathing… I don’t know, just DO SOMETHING!” She shouted at Abby. Abby and Patty immediately ran off to call the ambulance.

Holtz sat, silently sobbing, refusing to let go of Erin.

“You still smell of coconut.” She said aloud, looking off into nothing. “That’s my favourite smell, your coconut shampoo. Ugh, Erin, I’m such an idiot. You’re lying here dying, and it’s all my fault. It took me watching you die in my dream to realise how much you mean to me, how much I need you around. I swore to protect you, to save you, to specifically not let this happen, and look at us. Oh god, Erin, I’m so sorry. I love you and I ‘m sorry I never got to tell you. I never got to take you to the park, buy you ice cream, get your favourite coffee from that place two blocks down as a surprise in the morning…”

She broke down into fits of sobs, crying into Erin's shoulder.

“Mmm… coffee sounds good…” a murmur came from below.

Holtz froze. She slowly lifted her head, and was met with two dozey blue eyes looking up into her own.

“E…Erin..?”

“Hi.” She whispered with a smile.

Holtz burst into tears. “Erin! Oh my god, Erin, you’re… alive, you’re… you’re okay?!?”

“I’m a little busted up, yes, but not too bad. You look like shit, though.” She joked, smiling.

Holtz beamed back at her, her eyes sparkling.

“ABBY! PATTY! SHE’S AWAKE, SHE’S OKAY!!!” Holtz yelled down the sewer. She heard cheers from round the corner. Erin closed her eyes, still smiling.

Everything was going to be okay. Even if Erin never went for ice cream in the park with her, she would be her friend, and if that was good for Erin, it was good enough for Holtz.

She sat with her until the paramedics came, and Erin held her hand firmly the whole ride to the hospital.


	7. Chapter 7

“Did you mean it?” Erin whispered.

They were in the hospital. Erin had been seen straight away and given a private room thanks to her ghostbuster status. They had treated her for shock and possible concussion, but she had to stay overnight for regular checks. Holtz had refused to leave, despite Erin being unconscious. She felt responsible, she couldn't just leave her there all alone.

Erin had been sleeping solidly pretty much since they got her in the ambulance, apart from some odd blabberings about custard that Holtz didn't quite understand. She finally awoke, almost 30 hours later, to find Holtz sitting by her bedside with a book, humming some 80s tune she couldn’t name.

"Did you mean it?" Erin whispered.

Holtz looked up at the question, surprised to find Erin awake so soon. The doctors had told them it might be days before she came round, and even longer before she could talk properly again.

“What?” She replied. She was careful to keep her voice low, Erin's head must have been pounding after the hit she took.

“What you said. About seeing me in the dream, and trying to save me?”

Holtz laughed. “You were awake that whole time? You should be an actor, Gilbert.”

“Well? Did you?”

Holtz sighed, and put down her book. “Yes. That’s what I left out the other day. I couldn’t bear to tell any of you that I’d seen you die, it was just too... too painful. I just wanted to try and save you myself; I made you a pretty badass proton shield, I'm definitely going to work on making more. I didn't want you to have to know."

Erin bit her lip and looked down, before looking into Holtz’s eyes, smirking slightly. “And what about the rest?”

Holtz felt herself blush and thanked the 9.30pm hospital light timeout for the cover of darkness. “The rest?”

“About the park, and the coffee, the ice cream…” Erin shifted her position and took Holtz’s hand, caressing between her own, looking at her fingers. “About saying you love me…?”

Holtz couldn’t stop the smile that crept up her face. “Would you… like me to have meant it?”

“Oh no you don’t. I want you to admit it.” It was a hard statement, but the softness of her voice and her smile told Holtz she didn’t need to worry.

“Allllriiiiiiight,” she drawled sarcastically. Erin giggled, sending bubbles through Holtz’s body.

“I meant every word.”

Erin held her gaze. “Well, I love you too, Holtz.”

Their hands were still intertwined, and Erin was stroking the back of Holtz’s hand gently with her thumb. They sat there, content, until Erin drifted off again. Holtz sat, reading her book, one hand in Erin’s, and if she could, she would have been purring.

Erin was discharged the next day, and Holtz took her back to her apartment to rest for a day or so. Abby had met with the mayor, who after a somewhat heated discussion agreed to cover up the whole thing.

When Erin was better, Holtz took her to Central Park, and bought her ice cream, and they walked contentedly along in the afternoon sunshine.

The two of them turned up to the firehouse a few days later, over an hour late, Erin wearing one of Holtzmann’s oversized x files shirts. Neither of them saw Abby slip Patty 20 dollars across the kitchen counter, huffing to herself, Patty grinning like a Cheshire cat.


End file.
